Justin Timberlake taking full advantage of his 'Experience'

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Photos:The rise of Justin Timberlake

From his television appearances in the 1990s to the 2016 animated film "Trolls," singer Justin Timberlake has been on quite a roll with his career.

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Photos:The rise of Justin Timberlake

In 1993, Timberlake was singing, dancing and acting in the Disney Channel's "The Mickey Mouse Club" alongside a group that would later become a who's-who of teenage idols. Here, clockwise from upper center, are Nikki DeLoach, Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, Ryan Gosling, T.J. Fantini and Tate Lynche.

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Photos:The rise of Justin Timberlake

Timberlake graduated from the Mickey Mouse Club, and in 1998 he began singing with the new boy band 'N Sync. Over the next five years, the group would sell 42 million records worldwide, according to their website.

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Photos:The rise of Justin Timberlake

In 2000, 'N Sync's "No Strings Attached" was the top-selling album of the year and Timberlake's picture was hanging inside the locker of teenage girls around the world.

The band 'N Sync performs at the 2000 MTV Movie Awards. "No Strings Attached" finished as the best-selling album of 2000. The song "Bye Bye Bye" was nominated for Song of the Year at the Grammy Awards.

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Photos:The rise of Justin Timberlake

Timberlake and singer Britney Spears dated from 1999 to 2002. Here, they attend the American Music Awards in 2001.

By 2002, 'N Sync went on hiatus. Then Timberlake launched the solo career that would define his next decade. Here, he hosts the 2003 MTV Movie Awards with Seann William Scott.

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Photos:The rise of Justin Timberlake

At the 2004 Grammy Awards, Timberlake won best male pop vocal performance and best pop vocal album for his solo debut "Justified." Among the hit songs on the album: "Rock Your Body," "Cry Me a River" and "Like I Love You."

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Photos:The rise of Justin Timberlake

While performing with Janet Jackson at the Super Bowl halftime show in 2004, Timberlake popped off part of Jackson's corset, exposing her breast. The reveal raised quite a ruckus, and the Federal Communications Commission ordered an investigation.

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Photos:The rise of Justin Timberlake

Timberlake's sophomore album, the club-friendly "FutureSex/LoveSounds," gave us hits (and new vernacular) like "Sexy Back" and "What Goes Around ... Comes Around." That 2006 album was the last new music we'd hear from Timberlake until 2013, but his acting career expanded during that time. Here, he appears in the 2006 movie "Alpha Dog."

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Photos:The rise of Justin Timberlake

JT lent his voice to 2007's "Shrek the Third." The film also features the vocal talents of Cameron Diaz, who reportedly dated Timberlake on and off from 2003 to 2007.

Mila Kunis and Timberlake play friends-turned-lovers in 2011's "Friends with Benefits."

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Photos:The rise of Justin Timberlake

Timberlake and Diaz put their breakup behind them to co-star in 2011's "Bad Teacher."

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Photos:The rise of Justin Timberlake

Timberlake and Biel smooch for the cameras at a basketball game in 2012. Despite remaining mum on the topic, the pair reportedly got engaged in December 2011. In October 2012, they were married in an intimate ceremony in Italy.

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Photos:The rise of Justin Timberlake

Amy Adams, Timberlake and Clint Eastwood star in 2012's "Trouble with the Curve."

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Photos:The rise of Justin Timberlake

Timberlake and Jay-Z perform "Suit & Tie" at the 2013 Grammy Awards. Timberlake's album "The 20/20 Experience" was a big seller in 2013, and he also released a second volume, "The 20/20 Experience - 2 of 2."

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Photos:The rise of Justin Timberlake

Timberlake's crime drama "Runner Runner," co-starring Ben Affleck, didn't go over well with critics, and it flailed at the box office in 2013.

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Photos:The rise of Justin Timberlake

GQ named Timberlake one of its Men of the Year in 2013.

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Photos:The rise of Justin Timberlake

Timberlake, part of an exclusive club of people who have hosted "Saturday Night Live" five times, "wraps" with Jimmy Fallon during a skit in December 2013.

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Photos:The rise of Justin Timberlake

Timberlake shares a photo of his son, Silas, who Biel gave birth to in April 2015.

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Photos:The rise of Justin Timberlake

Timberlake joins Chris Stapleton at the CMA Awards in November.

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Photos:The rise of Justin Timberlake

Timberlake and Biel arrive at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in February. A couple months later, he released a new single, "Can't Stop the Feeling." It's featured on the soundtrack of the animated movie "Trolls," in which he voices one of the characters.

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Story highlights

Justin Timberlake's new album is the biggest seller so far this year

His "The 20/20 Experience" hit No. 1 both in the States and abroad this week

Executive says marketing and promoting behind the album has been stellar

Album sales, meet your new prince.

Justin Timberlake's "The 20/20 Experience" hit it big this week around the world. In the United States the album came in at No.1 on the charts, selling 968,000 copies, according to SoundScan. It also hit No. 1 in multiple countries including New Zealand, Canada and Switzerland, topped the charts on iTunes in 89 countries, and is the biggest debut in the United Kingdom so far this year.

"The 20/20 Experience" also ranked 19th in overall sales for an album since SoundScan debuted in 1991. Given his golden touch, it should come as no surprise that JT's former band 'N Sync holds the No. 1 spot for 2000's "No Strings Attached."

Not too shabby in an era when experts have long decried the slow death of the album.

"A lot of artists are not known for albums, they are known just for singles," said Steve Stoute, a friend and former music executive who recently worked with Timberlake on the Bud Light Platinum ad campaign. Ordinarily, he said, "If you put out singles and you don't follow up quickly enough, unfortunately you are going to be forgotten."

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In fact, it seems that the seven year wait for new music from the former boy bander turned actor turned favored "Saturday Night Live" host ratcheted up fans' anticipation even more. His last two albums, 2002's "Justified" and 2006's FutureSex/LoveSounds debuted more modestly, at 439,000 and 684,000 respectively.

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When Timberlake returned to the music scene, he did so with a vengeance and, Stoute said, a perfectionist's eye, trained on everything from music videos, the aforementioned commercial that aired during the Grammys, his fifth "SNL" hosting gig, a Grammy performance and a weeklong residency on the "Jimmy Fallon Show." That's not even to mention his upcoming joint tour with Jay-Z, who guest raps on the album's first single "Suit & Tie," and the second volume of "The 20/20 Experience," which is expected to come in November.

"I think it's one of the best marketing plans I've ever seen put together period, even outside of records," Stoute said. "Just one of the best product launching marketing plans I've ever seen."

Joe Levy, the editor of Billboard, said Timberlake's approach leading up to the debut is an example of "secrecy in the age of transparency."

Like David Bowie, who recently dropped an album no one was even expecting, Timberlake played it close to the (double) vest. Levy said it's unusual because fans these days are used to "artists telling us a record is coming, delaying the record when the first single doesn't work, pushing the record back when the second single doesn't work."

"The secrecy with which the record was made, and the careful way in which it was delivered was all part of it," he said. "We will see what he has up his sleeve from here."

Levy said there are still fans who appreciate a good album and there is a reason "The 20/20 Experience" is the biggest seller so far in 2013.

"(Fans) are buying it because the singles are great, he's great, it's been a long time since he's put out a record, it's brilliantly marketed and all that's come together to propel him to a very impressive first week of sales," he said.

Billy Johnson Jr., a senior editor at Yahoo! Music, said Timberlake is very cognizant of the three things he needed to do to ensure his album's success: "promote, promote, promote."

In contrast to his relatively low profile over the last few years, "Justin Timberlake has made himself as accessible as he can," Johnson said. "So the awareness of his album is at a peak."

He also managed to snag superstar rapper Jay-Z to perform with him not only on the record, but also at key events including "SNL," a party during Super Bowl weekend and the Grammy Awards. That's a feat Johnson said not even Jay-Z's wife, Beyonce, can claim, as he didn't perform with her during this year's Super Bowl Halftime show.

"It's like (Jay-Z) and Timberlake are like the new 'Watch The Throne' 2013," Johnson said, referring to the hit album and tour from Jay-Z and fellow artist Kanye West in 2011.

Timberlake told the New MySpace (a site he co-owns) that he envisioned a few legends when he started thinking about touring with the man who is arguably one of the biggest stars in music. The singer said he remembers when "artists like Billy (Joel) and Elton (John) went on tour together and you just see them mash up their songs together, and I said, that's what it has to be."

"We have to just go out on stage for two hours and just nonstop, kill it and then go have a beer or whatever," Timberlake said.

Stoute said he is sure Timberlake will continue to connect with fans because he is one of music's stars whose talent has earned him the privilege to be able to take some time away from the industry and still come back strong. Not everyone can, Stoute said.